Last Updated on October 6, 2025, 12:55 PM AST by Anthony Morris
St Kitts and Nevis: Around 25 small business owners will receive a grant of EC$10,000 under a “New Micro CBI Grant” initiative of the St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU). The aim is to highlight CIU’s contribution to the community and support the micro business owners financially.
The initiative will be launched to assist business owners who would not otherwise qualify for grant funding. The CIU is collaborating with First Federal Capital Union and designing the initiative to boost entrepreneurship and provide tangible benefits to the local community.
Under the first phase of the programme, a grant of EC$10,000 and professional training will be provided to selected micro-business owners to professionalise and grow their operations. A specific set of criteria will be used to select eligible businesses, with the aim of showcasing First Federal’s suite of products tailored for small business owners.
The initiative will prioritize the women-focused businesses and provide sustainable financing to support and strengthen local communities. Grants will be awarded to independently owned and operated micro or small businesses, with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover of less than $60,000EC.
Funding must be used for business expenditure only including raw materials, staffing, equipment, marketing etc.
Selection criteria:
The Citizenship by Investment Unit of St Kitts and Nevis outlined that the small owners must have a valid business licence and should have micro business such as snackette, landscaping business or anything equivalent.
They must have a 12 months track record and must not be given any government grant in the last 12 months. All the accounts into which funds will be deposited must be held at First Federal and the preferences will be given to those businesses that can demonstrate alignment with the government’s Sustainable Island State Agenda.
Application process:
The general public will need to submit their applications via a brief Google Form, providing the details including Business Information, Name of the business, Operational History: How long the business has been in operation, Licenses: Copy of business license and/or food handling license
In addition to that, there must be a Grant Proposal which will include:
- Description of how the funds will be used
- Explanation of why the business should be selected for the grant.
Further, the business owners can make their referrals via the same process. The final selection will be made by Cabinet, CIU Board and leadership team. The deadline for the submission of the application is October 15, 2025. Businesses can submit their applications on the email: ciugrants@sknciu.com.
There is no fee to apply for the initiative and only one application per applicant will be considered. Applications will be reviewed based on total score against eligibility criteria as well as other factors including impact, feasibility, innovation and alignment to the Sustainable Island State Agenda.
Successful applicants will be notified no later than Friday 25 October via email or phone. As per the Unit, applicants will have to submit a preferred contact method when you submit your application. Due to the anticipated high volume of applications only successful applicants will be contacted.
All awardees will be invited to a ceremony in collaboration with CIU and First Federal, during which further details will be provided on the programme including the training and development component.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
